


Love journey

by Miciia



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Bottom Shiro (Voltron), Canon Compliant, Fluff, Langst, M/M, Mention of Past Abuse, Pining Shiro (Voltron), Slow Burn, Top Lance (Voltron), idiot in love, sir sin's past abuse au, smut because there will be some eventually, then it's just stray far away from canon, they sort out their feelings somehow, this happens after s4 ep5
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-21 01:31:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14905931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miciia/pseuds/Miciia
Summary: Lance raised an eyebrow slowly, giving Shiro a once-over. Shiro was acting kind of suspicious, with his cheeks tinted with pink. He wasn't looking Lance in the eye, which was very unusual of Shiro who never shies away from anything. He was certain he heard a love confession from Shiro. Lance had no idea how to react, even if he did hear right. Maybe Shiro meant it in a platonic way? After all, Lance wasn't exactly good enough for anyone to fall in love with him. He never got a date when he flirted with aliens and Shiro was on another level altogether. The man was Lance's hero back at the garrison; What was he to someone like Shiro?





	Love journey

**Author's Note:**

> I love myself some idiot Shiro, also he's completely ooc it's okay he's cute

Shiro and Lance were returning to the castle after a short mission to collect rare minerals. Those minerals would be used to strengthen the lazer gun roombas, as the paladins liked to call them. They were both inside the red lion, since Shiro couldn't control the black lion anymore. They were a varga away from the castle, lance was talking animatedly about the planet they were leaving, when Shiro suddenly mumbled:

“I do love you” Shiro suddenly whispered.

Lance stopped mid sentence and snapped to the side so fast it hurt to face Shiro.

“what did you just said?” Lance asked.

“let's go back to the castle?” Shiro answered with a questioning look after a few seconds. His face was starting to blush.

“no, after that” Lance stated, eyes still wide.

“I didn't talk” Shiro said.

“no no no, you definitely said something and I want you to repeat it”

“I didn't say anything” Shiro said as he looked away from Lance. 

Lance raised an eyebrow slowly, giving Shiro a once-over. Shiro was acting kind of suspicious, with his cheeks tinted with pink. He wasn't looking Lance in the eye, which was very unusual of Shiro who never shies away from anything. He was certain he heard a love confession from Shiro. Lance had no idea how to react, even if he did hear right. Maybe Shiro meant it in a platonic way? After all, Lance wasn't exactly good enough for anyone to fall in love with him. He never got a date when he flirted with aliens and Shiro was on another level altogether. The man was Lance's hero back at the garrison; What was he to someone like Shiro?

But the nagging hope kept wondering what it meant if it were true: Shiro had feelings for him. Lance smiled at that, it felt weird but a good kind of weird, like his first time in the flight simulator. Red purred and Lance shot upright at the noise, the lion was making fun of him. Before he could give Red a piece of his mind, Lance saw the castle closing in and sighed, they wouldn't be stuck together in this small cockpit anymore.

~~

A few days later, Lance was certain Shiro didn't confess to him. Shiro didn't change his attitude at all towards him, heck it felt like he was avoiding spending time with Lance or even near Lance. Lance's gaze never left Shiro. He was noting every move, every habit Shiro had. He noticed slight stuff: how Shiro was brushing his left fingers together from time to time as if his galran hand could disappear any second, how his shoulders stiffened whenever someone said galra, how easily Shiro could control his emotions. His cheeks were often tinted pink when he turned around to raise an eyebrow at Lance. That look meant “stop staring, I can feel it in the back of my head and it feels bad.”

Lance noticed the way he looked at Allura, with fondness and admiration. Who could blame him? She was powerful, smart, courageous, strong and beautiful. They looked stunning together, anyone could see it. 

~~  
After three other days of constant staring, Keith had enough. After Lance and Hunk went to bed, Keith and Pidge cornered Shiro to spill the beans. Shiro paused for a moment before sheepishly saying “I confessed last mission.”

Keith sighed. “so you finally confessed.” they all knew Shiro had a crush on Lance since day one.

“It was an accident” Shiro said. He wished he was 6 feet under right then.

“how do you _accidentally_ confess ?” Pidge asked with a bit of a smile.

“I wanted to whisper but he heard it” Shiro explained.

“why did you want to say it ?” Pidge asked.

“i was admiring how he's grown as the right hand of voltron, hearing all the things he's done and seeing it with my own two eyes, and I kind of slipped up. Plus he was being cute, he was rambling about the planet and the aliens.” Shiro answered with a little smile.

“maybe he didn't hear it properly.” Keith suggested.

“have you seen the way he looks at me now? He definitely heard it. I have no idea what to do, I don't want to disturb the team with some useless romance.” Shiro started pacing.

“stop thinking about voltron and saving the universe for a moment, and ask yourself what do _you_ want to do?” Keith asked.

“I want to bury myself under my cover and never come out.”

“shiro” Keith grunted.

“you've been through so much lately, don't you think you deserve happiness?”

Shiro stopped in his track. “is it something I should think about?”

“yes” Pidge and Keith said at the same time.

Shiro blinked. “I’ve got a lot to think about then.”

~~

meanwhile, Lance was pacing around in his own bedroom as he tried to explain the situation to Hunk.

“are you okay lance? I haven't seen you act like this since that one time at the garisson...”

Lance interupts, “shh! We pinky promised to never talk about that ever again!”

“okay okay, but something is up with you, spill.”

“what I’m going to say will seem extremely unbelievable and weird”

“is it about Shiro?”

lance stopped pacing and looked at Hunk with eyes wide open.

“how did you know?”

“dude, you've been staring at him non stop for the last week, do you have a crush or something?”

“shiro's the one who has a crush on me !”

“what?” hunk asked with a confused face.

“I think Shiro confessed to me.”

Hunk's eyes shot up. “you think ? When did he say that?”

“after we retrieved those minerals for Allura. And the reason I haven't brought it up until now is because I'm not sure I’m hearing things. Did he ever say I do love you to any of you guys ?”

“nope, never. Never said I like you either.”

“does it mean he confessed for real ?”

“surely”

“but his attitude didn't change at all, heck he's been avoiding me even more than before, and he doesn't look like he's in love with me at all. And do we start going out if he's in love with me?” lance said, his worry making him talk faster and faster.

“you don't have to go out with him if you don't want to, he maybe just slipped up and never wanted to act on his feelings. You should talk about it”

“nope, not gonna happen, he could do so much better.”

“didn't know your name was 'so much better'” hunk deadpanned.

“ugh, don't pull the dad jokes on me, I’m at a loss here”

“seriously, stop selling yourself short. If he's in love with you there's a reason: you're an extraordinary sharpshooter, you're smart, you're the red paladin of voltron. It's not the garrison anymore, you're not just a cadet within cadets. Shiro's not the senior officer either. Out here you're both paladins of voltron, there's nothing you should fear. Talk to him, and everything will be better.”

“I'll do that.” lance nodded. “wish me luck.”

hunk left lance to sleep and he came back to the kitchen.

“I have no idea how to make space popcorn but we need it right now !” Hunk squealed.

 

Pidge squealed with him before she straightened up.

“we shouldn't act like this towards our friends” she said while pushing her glasses up.

“You're totally right but right now I don't want nothing more than to eat popcorn while watching how everything will turn out to be.”

“me too” Pidge nodded.

Shiro moaned. “I’m in great trouble here, please don't use it for your own personal interests.”

“you're in even bigger troubles” Hunk pointed out.

“wait, he hates queers ? Please tell me he doesn't mind queers.” Shiro whined.

“no no he has no problems with gay people, don't worry. Hunk probably means he's gonna come talk with you, don't you?” Pidge said.

~~

The next morning, Lance was decided to talk with Shiro before anyone was up. Shiro always woke up an hour before everyone else to run on a treadmill. He waited anxiously, he wasn't sure if he wanted to talk in the end. What if Lance had imagined everything. He didn't get the time to think about everything that could go wrong because Shiro appeared when his bedroom door opened. He looked up, his eyes widened impossibly when he noticed Lance.

“do you...” Lance started.

“yes I’m in love with you.” Shiro said quickly before he ran off.

Lance couldn't believe what he heard.

“what do you mean you're in love with me ?” Lance screamed.

Lance decided to look for Shiro even if it took him all morning. He couldn't believe it, Shiro was in love with him. For some obscure reason, Shiro was in love with him. So what now? He needed to talk it out with Shiro. Shiro was doing push ups when Lance arrived. He didn't notice Lance creeping up on him. Lance jumped on Shiro's back and tied his arms and legs around Shiro who stiffened, his muscles ready to jump into a fight.

“it's me, Lance” he reassured Shiro. “Don't worry”

Shiro relaxed and continued his push ups as if no one was on his back.

“I just want to know what's gonna happen now”

“I'm not expecting anything from you, nor am I asking you to go out with me. I'll deal with my feelings as best I can, just like I did for the past month.”

“what does it mean, you'll deal with it ?”

“the same thing I've been doing for the past month”

Shiro sounded distant. Lance got off Shiro and left to the room with the three sofas that was their own livingroom. He still couldn't believe Shiro was in love with him. Lance was tired, but he would never be able to sleep at the moment. Shiro loved him. That was his reality. His hero was in love with him. The man he looked up to was in love with him. He didn't know what to do. _I'm gonna make sure I'm not overly friendly with him_ he decided. He walked to the kitchen to have breakfast. He saw Shiro enter the kitchen and was about to walk in as well when he decided against it. He hid next to the door.

“...told him i love him” he heard Shiro say.

“and?” Pidge asked.

“i made a complete fool of myself”

“what else is new?” Keith joked.

“what happened?” Hunk asked.

“I ran away” Shiro said sheepishly.

Lance heard a loud noise, as if a spatula hit the floor.

“you what?” Coran squealed.

“how much dorkier can you get” Pidge snorted.

“your face is all red! Are you overheating?” Coran panicked.

“no it's a normal occurrence when Shiro interacts with Lance” Keith explained casually.

Lance felt sick to his stomach. Everyone knew about Shiro's feelings. He went back to his bedroom and dropped onto his bed. They knew a completely different Shiro, another person. He couldn't believe Shiro had never been his true self with him, was he really in love with him? The Shiro he knew was a fake and that he just couldn't let it go.

~~

For the next few days, Lance didn't look at Shiro, didn't talk to him, almost didn't hear him. Shiro was quick to leave Lance alone if that's what he wished. Three days after the confession they had to fight Lotor and his fleet. Lance was happy Shiro wasn't the black paladin for once, but he was still out of it. At night, during his skin care routine, Lance heard the muffled voices of the whole crew in front of his door, but he only wants to sleep, he was tired after they almost lost because of him. They were most likely here to lecture him and he was way too tired to deal with a lecture. He pretended he didn't hear when they knocked at the door. Still, he approached the door to hear what was going on because they were quite noisy.

“it's not my fault he's sleeping, let's do that tomorrow” Shiro stated firmly.

“Shiro” Keith grunted. “you're not getting out of this”

“this has to be done now and you know it. Now open that door and talk to Lance.”

“what if he's asleep?” Shiro was panicking.

“he's not.” Pidge assured him.

“what do I tell him?”

Lance opened the door. “sorry for all the noise is a good start.”

He took in the surprising sight of Keith, Pidge and Hunk circling a ready-to-flee Shiro while Allura and Coran were concerned about the whole situation. Shiro turned around to face Lance and... nothing. They stared at each other for an awkward minute.

“if you've got nothing to say, please leave.” Lance snapped.

Shiro shifted his weight from one foot to another. “you probably don't want to see me right now”

“wrong, try again” Keith clicked his tongue.

Shiro groaned. “do you want to talk?”

“better” Pidge encouraged him.

Lance could see how young he really was in that moment, acting all sheepish and awkward. He was miles away from the Shiro Lance knew and Lance didn't know how to act at all.

“if it's for a lecture...”

“It's not, you can refuse if you're uncomfortable you know.” Hunk reassured Lance when he picked up on his hesitation.

Lance wanted to refuse, he didn't know what to expect from this Shiro. But he knew that talking with Shiro was best for the team.

“okay” he eventually said. “let's talk tomorrow morning, in the bonding room, at the first varga of the day cycle.”

Shiro nodded quickly and they all left. Lance could finally sleep in peace.

~~

Lance entered what they call the bonding room a few minutes before the day cycle would begin. The bonding room was a ten-by-ten meters (32,9 feet) room with mattresses as floor and a closet full of pillows and all kinds of blankets: there was enough pillows to cover the entire floor, and enough blankets to pile it up to the roof. Alteans believed bonding could be achieved through sleeping thus the existence of this room. They only used this room once after the second time they formed voltron, the name was chosen by Keith. It felt empty without the others, Lance thought as he remembered their sleepover. It was so genuine, easy and careless. No voltron, no galra, no space, just the five of them having the closest thing to earth they ever experienced in space. Lance was missing it a lot, he wished they'd done it again. He liked the stupid game they played together, how they created card games with altean cards and how much of a disaster it was to play with a 200 cards deck. He wanted to go back to that night where they talked about the garrison and the stupid things they did there. It felt so foreign now, especially the funny Keith and the relaxed Shiro. Lance often wondered why they never did this again. It felt nice sleeping together, Shiro's body rolled up against his side and using Lance's arm as a pillow. Pidge was sprawled across both of them. Keith sleeping on Lance's pectoral, and Hunk spooning Keith. Lance sighed, he really wanted to feel that “home” feeling again.

Lance snapped out of his memories when Shiro called out his name. Lance tensed up, had Shiro been watching him? Shiro walked up to him and sat by his side. Neither said a word. Shiro looked around the room, avoiding Lance's gaze. Lance was staring at Shiro intently. Shiro was fidgeting, his whole body stiff. He didn't look as nervous as before and that was a good thing. He also didn't look like the black paladin he knew. He saw the tension rise in Shiro's body.

“so...” Lance started eventually, finally getting Shiro's attention. “you wanted to tell me something?”

Shiro avoided Lance's gaze again. “did I do something wrong?”

Lance blinked at that. “what do you mean?”

“you've been acting weird since that mission”

“how was I supposed to act? You confessed to me”

Shiro rubbed his neck. “it's Coran’s fault I told you. Well not exactly, but I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable.”

“it didn't make me uncomfortable, it surprised me”

“it shouldn't have...” Shiro turned to look at Lance.

“of course it should! The leader I admire who's obviously in a relationship with Allura is in love with me.”

“with Allura? What gave you the idea?”

“I mean” Lance avoided Shiro's eyes. “you're both strong leaders and you look good together and you're really close”

Shiro paused for a few seconds before he spoke again. “we're just friends, and I’m acting the same way towards everyone.”

“then why are you treating me differently?” Lance asked visibly hurt.

Shiro flinched when their eyes met.

“you realized?” Shiro whispered.

“why?”

Shiro's eyes trembled. He wanted to look away but he couldn't. Lance was waiting for an answer.

“because... you're Lance.” Shiro whispered again.

“what does this mean? You don't like me?”

“no!” Shiro's voice cracked. “no I like you”

Lance leaned back and crossed his arms on his chest. “I don't get you”

“I mean, you're kind and good looking”

“so I’m just a pretty boy? Didn't need you to remind me” he grumbled the last part.

Shiro stayed silent. Lance wanted to leave the room to stop this moment from staining all the pretty memories he had in this room. He just wanted to disappear. Shiro took in a deep breath before he started to talk with a steady, deep and assertive voice.

“i don't love you just because you look good, you have all kinds of qualities.”

“don't pull this leader crap on me now” Lance snapped.

“I’m not...”

“then why aren't you showing the real you? Why does everyone knows a Shiro I had no idea existed 2 weeks ago? Why am I the only one who doesn't have a clue if you're supposed to like me? Why do you never talk to me? Why do you never listen to me? Why do you just keep on being the perfect leader around me and only around me? Why?” Lance was trying to refrain his tears from falling. He wouldn't cry in front of Shiro.

“i didn't mean it that way Lance, I’m sorry, ugh, I’m hopeless.” Shiro took in a deep breath. “You're amazing Lance. You have no idea how much you are. You're full of confidence, smart, funny, your smile can make anyone smile, you're easy going, everyone loves you, you're a great shooter, you're good at flirting, you're always helping others, you value other people's life over your own, you're good at reading people, you're honest, you're bold and you're beautiful. Not just your body, but you as a whole. And me... I'm just me, how could someone like you ever put their eyes on me. I spent a year imprisoned in an alien ship, have a prosthetic arm, white hair, scars all over my body, I'm old, I'm awkward, I'm shy, I'm just good at keeping up an act, hoping maybe you'll notice me.”

Lance didn't know what to say, this was a lot to take in.

“this is my first time loving someone, I didn't know what to do. So I did what was best for the team: hiding everything and keep my feelings for myself. But that was impossible if I was my real self around you.”

Shiro was blushing, fidgeting. Lance opened his mouth, closed it.

“since when are you putting up an act?” Lance asked eventually.

“since the sleepover, that's when I realized how far off my league you were.”

they sat in silence for a couple minutes.

“I didn't want to take advantage of you, you looked as straight as can be, and you're very intimidating. I didn't want you to realize I was attracted to you, and that I’m gay.”

Lance nodded. They let silence fall upon them for a few minutes.

“so what now?” Lance asked.

“I’m not expecting a relationship, I just want to keep loving you in secret.”

“okay, but you have to drop the act with me, I want to see the real Shiro.”

“fair enough, I’ll try my best”

Lance smiled and offered an open hand to Shiro who took it, smiling as well.

“it's settled then, come on let's get breakfast” Lance said standing up and stretching his limbs.

“Lance?”

“mh?”

“thanks for listening”

“anytime bro”

Lance left the bonding room to find Hunk and the others in the kitchen. Lance leaned against his best friend's back.

“did you talk it out?” Hunk asked.

“yeah we did talk” Lance answered. “the only thing you need to know is that he's putting off his mask”

“finally” Coran sighed.

~~

A couple days later, Shiro was yawning loudly when he entered the kitchen. He looked tired when he sat down next to Keith.

“bad dreams again?” Allura asked.

Shiro nodded. Lance didn't know Shiro had difficulties to sleep. He couldn't dwell on the things he didn't know about Shiro for too long because Keith was stealing from his plate.

“hey!” Lance squealed before he picked food from Keith's plate.

“guys...” Hunk tried but it didn't stop them at all.

“you got more rolls!”Keith argued. 

“But they're mine!” Lance pouted. 

Pidge was just sighing next to Hunk, on the other side of the table. Keith and Lance were fighting with their spoons over who would eat the last space fruit. It felt good to live a normal day after everything that happened lately. And even if they were in the middle of a battle, Lance was beaming when he finally got to eat the fruit.

“You cheated!” Keith gasped loudly.

“There's no rules in the heat of the battle” Coran stated.

“Ah ah!” Lance screamed in victory. 

Pidge frowned, Hunk fawned, Keith sulked. Allura handed her own goo rolls to Coran, this was the last time she bet on Keith. Shiro was just drifting back to sleep, his head resting on his arm. Lance took a moment to look at how much Shiro changed since the day they talked. When they weren't fighting, he was not as stiff, not as commanding and not as strict. Lance liked the change, especially the amount of times Shiro smiled per day. It was never directed at him, but he liked the grins Shiro exchanged. Lance found himself looking at Shiro for new expressions. He liked how Shiro would tense up whenever he caught Lance looking at him, or the way he bit his lip in anxiousness. Lance also learned to turn around and catch Shiro gazing at him with a fond look before he averted his eyes. Sometimes, Shiro would try to hide away by leaving the room. His teammates were often the ones who told Lance when to turn around.

Lance was fresh out of the shower when Hunk came to get him.

“We are planning a sleepover tonight, are you in?” He asked casually. 

“Did you plan sleepovers without me?” Lance cocked an eyebrow at him.

Hunk stared at Lance. “No, we didn't do any sleepover in the bonding room since that first one.”

“So you did sleepovers without me.” Lance's bottom lip sticked out in an angry pout. 

Hunk's face very clearly expressed I fucked up. Lance's eyes darkened, he clenched his fists. 

“No! Lance it wasn't a sleepover, more like Shiro trying to sort out his feelings and we ended up sleeping on the floor! It can't even be classified as sleepover!”

Lance relaxed.

“Why are you planning a sleepover now?” Lance asked.

“We've been wanting to do another one since that first one we did you know, but Shiro was against it completely. But now, it's not awkward between you anymore so we can do it!” Hunk sang at the end.

Lance frowned at Hunk. “Not awkward? Are you sure of that? Were you awake during the last few days?”

“I don't get it, you told me you talked it out.” Hunk said, oblivious. 

“Yes” Lance snapped “but he still won't talk to me!”

“did you try talking to him first?” Hunk suggested. 

“Do you think I'm stupid? Of course I did! He's blatantly avoiding me! After he told me all of those things, I thought it would be better between us, that he would open up to me and befriend me but noooooooooo of course Shiro is too busy avoiding me to actually care about me. Is he even in love with me?” Lance threw his arms in the air.

“Lance, come on you should be more patient, it's his first crush ever and after what he's been through, it's not that surprising he's anxious.” Hunk said in a low voice, hoping to calm his friend.

Lance crossed his arms over his chest and he sighed deeply. He leaned against the wall for support.

“I know Hunk, it's just... In two days, he opened up so much around me but but not to me. And when I noticed it, I just couldn't stop looking at him. It's frustrating me, I have no idea what to do now. I still have no idea what he wants from me!” Lance slipped against the wall until he was sitting on the cold floor. 

Hunk sat down beside him. 

“From the signals he's sending, I just get the feeling that he doesn't want to love me or something.” Lance said with a small voice.

“Well, you're not wrong, he doesn't want to fall in love with you.” Hunk stated.

“Are you serious?” Lance asked slowly, making sure every word was emphasized.

Hunk nodded and Lance burried his face in his hands.

“Why? If he doesn't want to fall in love, doesn't it mean he's not actually crushing on me?”

Hunk patted his shoulder. “It's not like he hates you, he doesn't want to fall in love with his teammate. He doesn't want to make it awkward.” 

“Because this situation is not awkward at all” Lance deadpanned but Hunk ignored him.

“He didn't want to make it awkward, but that's why we decided to force him and confess because it was unbearable for us. We didn't think he'd react this way with you, he's hiding away because he's scared.” 

Lance stayed silent for a few seconds. “Scared?” He asked.

“Terrified”

“I never thought Shiro would be like that, i would have bet my money on Keith.” Lance grumbled after a couple minutes of silence.

“Actually, Keith is way better at flirting than he looks, a natural talent?” Hunk asked mostly to himself.

“He learned from the best” Lance said cockily, pointing at himself. 

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that” Hunk shoved a finger in Lance's ribs. “I'm counting you in for the bonding sleepover.” 

Lance snorted at that. “We really need to stop the jokes with the bonding moment.”

Hunk turned to face him, his hands pressed against the other.

“Boy”

Lance snorted again at the simple word, he couldn't help it.

“I can't wait until tonight.” Lance said and Hunk waved at him before he left him alone in the corridor.

~~

Hunk slammed his hand against the wall of the kitchen. The sound startled the three paladins arguing over the name they would give to the robeast they fought against during the afternoon. Coran and Allura were doing reparations on the bridge. They stopped talking as Hunk entered the kitchen and settled against the counter across from his friends.

“Why did you hit the wall?” Pidge asked first.

“I couldn't slam the door open because it's a sliding door and I needed dramatic effect” Hunk answered casually.

“Lance really rubs on you” Shiro snorted.

“There's a sleepover tonight!” Hunk said happily.

“Yes!” Keith shouted.

“And everyone is coming” Hunk looked straight at Shiro when he said that. 

“I think I'll pass” Shiro still said sheepishly. 

Pidge glared at him. “No you're not. If you're tired, you'll just sleep next to us and we'll be quiet.” 

Her tone was very clear, Shiro couldn't escape this sleepover even if he tried to talk his way out.

“You talked it out, didn't you? It should be okay now” Keith tried to comfort Shiro. 

“Yeah we did” Shiro said “but...” 

“But you haven't talked since” Hunk finished for him.

Keith's gentle smile turned into a glare. “For real? You didn't talk at all? Are you sure you're crushing on him?”

“of course I am, and that's why I don't want to talk to him, what if I fall even deeper in love?” Shiro said with a straight face.

Keith sighed loudly, Pidge pinched the bridge of her nose.

“You can't keep on ignoring him Shiro, we're not kids. Do you have any idea how he feels? I know I wouldn't take that well.” Pidge declared.

Shiro's guilt grew with that.

“I talked to him and really, avoiding him is not the right solution”. Hunk added. 

“I don't know how to act with him” Shiro complained.

Keith grunted loudly. He had no patience with Shiro's hopeless crush anymore, he heard way too much about it already.

“Shiro, you're the one who has a crush, you're the one who has to show what you want.” Keith stated.

“But what choices do I have? What do I do? What do I want?”

Hunk patted Shiro's shoulder. “That's when you come talk to us and ask for our help.” Hunk's voice is soft and reassuring.

“So, let's answer one question at a time, Lance can be back anytime so get your priorities straight!” Pidge said happily. 

Hunk smiled and prepared dinner.

“I guess your first question is what do I want from Lance” Pidge leaned back in her chair, her arms crossed over her chest. 

Shiro nodded.

“Well, that's up to you actually: do you want to date Lance or do you want to be friends?” Pidge asked. “Take your time to answer.” 

Shiro stayed silent for a minute. “I... I think I want to be his friend.”

“Next question, how do you befriend him?” Pidge smirked.

Shiro nodded again.

“Well, Lance is pretty friendly, just go talk to him and he'll do the rest of the work” Hunk explained casually.

“Is it that easy?” Shiro frowned, he couldn't believe it would be that easy. 

“Yes? Being friends with Lance is the easiest thing in the world since he talks a lot you could just stare at him for 5 minutes and he'll think you're friends afterwards.” Hunk was frying goo with spices they found on a planet a long time ago, the spices gave a good taste to the space goo.

“Really?” Shiro asked with hopeful eyes. 

“In theory, yes. But, please don't stare at Lance for 5 minutes.” Keith argued.

Shiro lowered his gaze with a pout. 

“Don't look so disappointed!” Keith bumped Shiro's shoulder with his fist. “So, your next question is how do you talk with Lance” Pidge said. “It's easy: you go up to him, and talk.” 

Shiro chuckled. “I know how to talk to people, but how do I talk with him? I don't want him to notice I love him.”

Keith grumbled. “you already confessed dummy, it's too late to worry about that.”

Shiro turned to look at Keith who was sitting on the counter.

“There's no use in hiding your crush anymore.” Keith continued.

Shiro scowled. “What if it makes him uneasy?” 

Keith offered him a reassuring smile. 

“He'll tell you to stop staring then” Hunk stated. “He won't be mad at you or make fun of you, you need to trust him on that. He knows what it feels like to have a crush on a friend.” Hunk turned back to the stove, he was preparing a side dish to go with the goo.

“But he needs you to make the first step, because he doesn't want to step over your boundaries. That's why he's not trying to talk to you, he's letting you deal with your crush.” Pidge explained. “But since we're alone in a castle ship, lost somewhere in the universe, and we're forced to work and connect together, it's hard to give you your own space. Especially when you're sticked to us, Lance's best friends, 24/7.”

Shiro took the time to think about what Pidge said, she was making a point there. Now that he thought about it, Lance had spent a lot more time with Coran and Allura during the last ten days. He rubbed his neck sheepishly, he hadn't realize how considerate Lance had been until then, he kinda felt stupid. He also felt bad for making Lance feel like that when he just wanted to not hurt him. In the end, he was only thinking of himself.

“I've been a complete idiot about all this, haven't I?” Shiro grumbled. 

“Yes” Hunk and Pidge answered. Both were glaring at Keith for saying no.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you liked it !!!!!!!


End file.
